How Do You Know: The Culture of Information (APA4106.01)

Erika Mijlin

On a daily basis, we each define a relationship to information, as a bearer of truth, evidence, authority, timeliness, social leverage, insight, etc. Part seminar and part workshop, this course will attempt to make that complex relationship visible. We will first focus on a history of knowledge, and the various ways in which it has been used to organize the world. We will then move toward a contemporary understanding of information, data, and knowledge work, inquiring about the qualities of each of these, in theory and in practice. Through readings and projects we will explore questions of access to information, big data and the cloud, the uses of information, visualizing information, etc. We will put into action the cultural role of being an information-seeker across disciplines, experimenting with various ways of framing questions, collecting information, and presenting research.